Mobile Weather Apps - here's some of our suggestions

In the early days of chasing, if you were out in the field and were lucky, you had a clunky brick of a laptop computer that you could use for data.  And if you weren't, then you were well versed on where to find all the libraries of tornado alley and would plan your chasing routes accordingly.  These days, a smart phone is almost all you need to be equipped with software to keep tabs of the weather, monitor the changes in conditions, and track severe weather!

There are a variety of weather apps on the market for both iPhone and Android.  Each OS offers its advantages and it's own software.  While there are literally dozens of options, here are a few of the best ones.

RADARSCOPE ($9.95) for Android and iPhone

RadarScope is a specialized display utility for weather enthusiasts and meteorologists that allows you to view NEXRAD Level 3 radar data and severe weather warnings. It can display the latest reflectivity, velocity, and other radar products from any NEXRAD radar site in the United States, Guam and Puerto Rico. These aren't smoothed PNG or GIF images, this is real Level 3 radar data rendered in its original radial format for a high level of detail.  You can plot your current GPS location on the radar screen and easily track yourself and storms on a map.  You can run loops, display a variety of radar products, and do so quickly.

PYKL3 Radar ($9.99) for Android

PYKL3 is another mobile radar display program, but only for Android.  This program allows for subscription services such as Allisonhouse to be used with this program.  That allows for not only multiple sources of radar data, but also allows for placement of items such as lightning trackers, surface observations, and other important weather data that can be overlaid on the radar.  PYKL3 also allows you to retrieve text products from the National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center.  Like with Radarscope, you can plot your GPS location as well as the location of other chasers using Spotternetwork.

Rapid Refresh Grabber ($0.99) for Android

The Rapid Refresh Grabber is a quick and easy way to access Rapid Refresh weather forecasts on the go! Ideal for storm chasers and meteorologists.  Rapid Refresh lets you see the storms before they happen. Using a simulated reflectivity model, HRRR predicts where and when storms will take place, as if viewing them on radar! This app makes it a snap to get these product runs, with minimal time and data usage.  This simple program allows for you to easily gather that information right on your phone.

Storm Chaser SPC Outlook App (FREE) for Android

Get access to all of the Storm Prediction Center Outlooks from this fast simple app.  This app makes it quick and simple to access all those products from SPC without having to leave your smart phone!

Chaser Location ($1.99) for Android

Update your location to SpotterNetwork and ChaserTV automatically. Open it up set your SN and CTV logins in the settings, close it down and it runs in the background. Rock Solid. Run it for months! Updates your location, speed, and direction to SpotterNetwork and ChaserTV iMap just like the windows clients. For ChaserTV users, the beauty here is that you don't have to run the Webcam Max splitter or the iMap client. This app even shows you your current viewer count when you start streaming video. You only need to run the Adobe Encoder to live stream. Putting alot less load on your laptop. Set update times from 2 minutes to longer. Also use the Celltower triangulation instead of GPS to save on battery power. Checkboxes to post to CTV and/or SpotterNetwork - you choose. See how many viewers you have with the main screen display that updates automatically or see how your viewer count is going by pressing the Viewer Graph button.

There are literally dozens of apps on the market for both Android and iPhone, so browse through the stores and see what is available.  Many are free, some of course come with a small price, so shop around and see what suits your needs.  Many other programs are in production stages and will hit the market in the coming months, so be sure to check back with your stores often for new updates and releases of some amazing mobile apps!